Local History

Index to Local Newspapers
We have started a general index to the Mundelein Review and the Mundelein News, starting in 1999. Check our News Indexing project page for more information.

We started an index to the notices of births, engagements, weddings and deaths that appear in the Mundelein News and the Mundelein Review back in 1998. For more information, go to Local Newspapers - Vital Records.

We have some materials that relate to the history of the village of Mundelein and Fremont Township.

There is no index to the Independent Register. There is now an index to vital records in the Mundelein Herald. See our Vital Records page for more information.

Some local libraries have a limited index to the News-Sun, but we do not. In the long range, we hope to find volunteers to index these papers for at least births, marriages and deaths, but for now patience will be required.

We will do some limited searching for out-of-area patrons, as time allows. If, for instance, you needed the copy of a birth announcement from the Independent Register, you would need to provide us with a reasonable range of dates to search and a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Be advised that it may be several weeks before you hear back from us.

Fremont Township Landowners
The Library owns a map of landowners in Fremont township in the 1830's. The Fremont Township Office owns a map that shows land owners in Lake County in 1861. We have transcribed the names of Fremont Township landowners from both maps.

Records of wills and probates are kept by Clerk of the Circuit Court . These records go back to the 1830's. Indexes of the wills are kept at the probate desk at the Circuit Court office. Photocopying fees for wills are (as of March 5, 1999) $2 for the first page and $0.50 for every subsequent page. Contact the Circuit Court for more information on how to obtain these records. Their address is:

Phone: 847-968-3400
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The museum features hands-on interactive exhibits about the history of Lake County, in addition to special exhibits on various topics including art, science, and history. It is also home to the largest permanent exhibition on the history and significance of postcards.